HID Global's IdenTrust Achieves PIV-I Assurance Levels With IGC PKI Certificate

IGC PKI certificate includes both certificate for identity authentication and digital signing and certificate for encryption

IdenTrust® (part of HID Global®, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions), recently announced that it has achieved U.S. Federal Bridge Authority (US FBCA) cross-certification at Basic, Medium Software, Medium Hardware, and PIV-I Assurance levels with its IGC PKI certificate. HID Global exhibited at the Smart Card Alliance Government Conference on October 29-30 in Washington D.C.

Each individual IGC PKI certificate includes both a certificate for identity authentication and digital signing and a certificate for encryption. The certificate pair enables a wide range of uses, particularly for the healthcare and government industries, where a high degree of trust and interoperability is required. Customers can deploy IGC PKI credentials via a “Software as a Service” delivery model or via delivery through an on premise CMS such as HID Global’s ActivID® CMS.

“Cross-certification with the U.S. Federal Bridge transforms the IGC PKI certificate,” said Karen J. Wendel, CEO of IdenTrust. “Our customers in the healthcare and government industries have a significant, and often times mandated, need for both physical and logical security. The complexities of managing a different system for physical and logical access lead to processes that are faulty and cumbersome. IGC PKI certificates streamline the entire approach by providing a single credential that secures doors, devices, and software. It’s intelligent, efficient, and seamless.”

The Drug Enforcement Agency’s Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS) program accepts IGC PKI credentials, making the certificates especially of value in the healthcare industry. This is particularly important for practitioners in states such as New York, where deadlines loom for mandated EPCS. IGC PKI certificates also enable Directed Exchange in compliance with the National Health Architecture guidelines.

“HID Global provides a majority of the physical access cards in use at hospitals today. By incorporating IGC PKI certificates onto our ActivID CMS systems, our customers deploy the highest level of security with the most simplified method of delivery,” said Sheila Stromberg, Director of Vertical Markets and Healthcare Solutions with HID Global. “It is the most streamlined, secure, and convenient restricted access solution available today.”

IGC PKI certificates are a critical component of converged physical and logical access credentials that are compliant with Personal Identity Verification Interoperable (PIV-I) and Personal Identity Verification Compatible (PIV-C) standards. With IGC PKI certificates, IdenTrust customers who are government contractors can issue a branded, single credential to their employees for the purpose of physical access to restricted areas and buildings while also using the same credentials to authenticate, securely exchange email and other information, and establish non-repudiation with digital signatures on documents and transactions. Moreover, the IGC certificates on these credentials provide interoperability with the U.S. Government.

“IdenTrust and HID Global set out to provide a comprehensive identity and access management solution for our healthcare and government customers. IGC PKI combined with a compatible CMS is that solution,” said Vishvas Patel, Chief Architect and Vice President of Products at IdenTrust. “Better still, many of our customers are already realising the cost benefits from the convergence of logical and physical access by using this solution.”